The best of Scrubs…

Scrubs has covered a lot of ground in our two years..from the checkered history of the nursing uniform to the best hand creams for nurses to Helen Mirren’s casual announcement on a talk show that prostitutes often come from the nursing profession. Here’s a look back at Scrubs’ “must reads” of the past year alone that you might have missed.

January
Work-life balance is something many people have difficulty achieving, whether they are in nursing or another profession. But for nurses, who are needed round-the-clock, 365 days per year, it may be a bit more difficult than for other professionals. “Experts outline 10 steps to achieving work-life balance” gives doable and commonsense suggestions to help you gain that balance.

February
You know the drill: Wash your hands before you touch the patient, wash your hands after you touch the patient, wash your hands when you pick something off the floor… Your poor hands. Not only are they washed a gazillion times a day, but often the hospitals we work in are dry, leaving our skin vulnerable to redness and cracking. “5 best hand creams for nurses” may help your hands and soothe your skin, whether at work or at home.

March
New nursing graduates go through a lot of preparation and anxiety when they start their first job. But the nurses who are already there and are expected to work with the new nurse may have forgotten what it’s like to be the new kid on the block, the one who doesn’t know where everything is, the one who still has a heck of a lot to learn before confidence will set in. “How do I deal with a brand-new nurse?” will be a good reminder.

April
Unfortunately, even in this day and age, nurses still have to put up with bullies at work. While Kathleen D. Pagana, PhD, RN, writes about MD bullies here, her advice is helpful for handling bullies of any kind.

May
Whether you listen to music while you walk to work, exercise or relax, different music fits different activities. After all, it’s not too easy to work up a sweat while listening to a slow classical music piece, while relaxing or napping to heavy metal may be just as difficult. Regardless of the type of music you usually listen to, here is a list of 20 songs for nurses.

June
Whether you love him or hate him, when the President of the United States speaks, people listen. In June, President Obama spoke to the American Nurses Association and expressed his admiration for nurses.

July
As much as we gripe about the tough parts of nursing, there’s a lot of special stuff that comes with the job, too. If we’re lucky, we don’t have to think too hard to come up with some examples. But if you want to see what some other nurses had to say about the good parts of nursing, you may want to check out “14 favorite moments in nursing.”

September
In September, Scrubs blogger Sean Dent reminded us of how precious life really is, not just as we care for our patients, but for ourselves. His piece “I don’t have bad days” does a lot to make us stop and think.

October
As students, one of the things we dread most is the pop quiz, only to be followed by the scheduled quiz. Scrubs magazine readers jumped at the chance to exercise their lab and test skills outside the classroom with this practice NCLEX quiz.November
Chances are when you decided to go to nursing school, people asked you why you chose to go into nursing. Here’s a humorous look at the possible answers: “Top 10 reasons I went into nursing.”

December
Just when you think you know all the rules, your profession throws you a curveball! Get ready to be surprised (and relieved you found out!) about 10 nursing rules you’ve never heard of.

Marijke is a professional writer who began her working career as a registered nurse over 25 years ago. After working in clinical areas ranging from rehab to intensive care, as a floor nurse to a supervisor, she found she could combine her extensive health knowledge with her love of writing. Although she has been published in a wide variety of publications for professionals and the general public, her passion is writing for the every day person to promote health literacy.
By Marijke Durning